Present Crustal Activity Tibetan Plateau

The collision between Indian plate and Eurasian continent and its continuous subduction have resulted in severe intra-con tinental deformation in Tibetan plateau since the Paleogene period, leading to arevival of the paleo-orogenic belt, which, inturn, making the Cenozoic strata (hundreds to thousands of meters in thickness and located in foreland basins and in middle-to-small sized basins of the plateau) be folded and thrust. Fu rther more, thrust nappest ructures, strik-slip faults, and active folds all over the study area make the crust shortened and eastward slipped as a whole under the NE-SW structural stress. The uplift of the plateau as a whole is discontinuous and uneven, undergoing three stages: a slow uplift in Paleogene, a fast up lift from the end of Neogene to Pleistocene epoch, and a frequent crust oscillatory movement in Holocene epoch. The Tibetan plateau has been up lifted by 3 km to 3.5 km during the last 7 Ma and the Himalaya up lifted by at least 5 km since its rising from the lower med iterranean. In addition, geothermal activity and earthquake keep frequently taking place.